


Silence

by Shiraia_Writes



Category: Naruto
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:09:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26233210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shiraia_Writes/pseuds/Shiraia_Writes
Summary: Schedule: will start after 'Naruto, a Shattered Mind' is finished.In which Naruto:-never learns how to speak-is placed with capable guardians at age 4-grows up happily-is a lot more intuned with using wind chakraA better summary will follow when I start working on this. Right now, I just want some feedback about the viability for the story.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12





	Silence

**Author's Note:**

> Schedule: will start after 'Naruto, a Shattered Mind' is finished.
> 
> In which Naruto:  
> -never learns how to speak  
> -is placed with capable guardians at age 4  
> -grows up happily  
> -is a lot more intuned with using wind chakra
> 
> A better summary will follow when I start working on this. Right now, I just want some feedback about the viability for the story.

Naruto was orphaned at birth, on the same day the Kyuubi no Kitsune had attacked the village. In a desperate attempt to save the village, his parents had sacrificed themselves to be able to seal the Kyuubi into Naruto. After that, the Third Hokage had set up what he thought would be a good life at an orphanage for the boy, but he had thought wrong.

The caretakers of the orphanage have ignored Naruto completely. Only one of them had taken the time to nurse Naruto, but as soon as he was old enough to make his own way to the kitchen, she also ignored him. Even when she was taking care of him, she never really spoke to him, let alone show him any affection. There were other children in the orphanage as well, of course, but they did as the adults that raised them did, and ignored Naruto's existence as well.

Between the periods of being ignored, the caretakers would lash out at Naruto for doing something, or better said, anything, really. He'd do things the other kids did as well, but the other kids were never yelled at for it. It was always just him that seemed to spike the anger of the caretakers. Other times they would lash out at him for doing nothing, making the boy insecure about anything and everything he did. Yet the boy manage to keep smiling and to keep doing what he wanted to do.

The Hokage would visit from time to time and always found Naruto cheerful. His caretakers would talk about how good the boy was doing under their care. The Hokage never really looked into it any further, because Naruto did look happy, after all.

At one of these visits from the Hokage, however, the caretakers saw no other way but to bring up an issue they had with the boy. The problem was that Naruto did not speak. They did not understand his muteness. He was four years old. He should be at least be speaking a little bit by now. It annoyed them to no end that Naruto would just stare at them in stead of answering. Punishments didn't do anything to draw out sound from him. They were hoping to Hokage could help them with this.

The Hokage addressed Naruto directly at that. "Why don't you speak, Naruto?" He asked with a furrowed brow, kneeling down in front of the boy. Naruto stared back at him, his smile faltered as his look turned slightly puzzled. Naruto then shrugged and smiled at the Hokage again. He turned around and ran away. After a few moments he was back with pencil and paper. He sat down on the floor with his legs crossed and scribbled on the paper. When he was done, he gave it to the Hokage. 'If there is nobody to listen, why speak?' was written on the note in an immaculate handwriting.

The message sounded so very sad to the Hokage. "Who taught you to write?" The Hokage questioned.

"Well, we thought it would be best if he had some way of expressing himself other than talking." One of the caretakers, miss Harada, said. Naruto, however, had already given the Hokage another note, 'no one', before he realized what miss Harada had said.

"You've taught yourself?" The Hokage asked incredulously. Naruto's eyes shifted from the Hokage to the caretakers quickly, before looking at the ground. Miss Harada stepped forward, making Naruto flinch. "You tell him the truth, boy, tell him we taught you." She said with a cold voice. Naruto stepped to the side a bit, grabbing the Hokage's arm, so the Hokage was more in between him and the caretakers, a worried look on his face. He seemed to be terrified of his caretakers.

The Hokage looked from Naruto to the caretakers a few times. "Why is the boy so afraid of you?" He asked with anger in his voice. "He's not!" Miss Harada snapped. "He's just aiming to put us in a bad light! That's all he ever does. The boy is useless. If it wasn't for the monthly pay we get to keep him alive, he would have been out on the streets a long time ago. The little demon scares the other children! He's stealing food and I've seen him stealing other things. I think it would be better if we would be rid of _it_." The last word was said with a lot of venom.

Naruto cringed at the words and hid his face in the sleeve of the Hokage, silent tears forming in his eyes. He'd only ever taken food he needed to survive! Besides, they never told him he couldn't take food. They never said anything to him period, except in anger, so how could he know that what he did was wrong? Besides, other children were free to take the food they wanted, so why not him? And the other things he took were clothing, a few blankets and books. He even returned the books after studying them! If he hadn't taken the few items of clothing, he would be naked right now seeing as they have never given him any. And the blankets, seeing how his room was the only room without heating, he needed them as much as he did the clothing.

"Seeing as this clearly isn't the best environment for Naruto-kun, I think that, yes, he will be leaving this place." The Hokage hissed in response to miss Harada. "It is obvious I put my trust into the wrong people. I will personally select some people to raise this boy. And you will be paying back all the money you've received for taking care of him, since you've obviously not done so." A shocked and angered murmur broke out between the staff, but the Hokage turned his attention to Naruto. "Why don't we go to your room to gather your things, and then you will be coming with me." He said in a soft tone. Naruto gave a small nod, surprise and shock clear on his face. He turned around and started walking, leading the Hokage to his room.

To say the boy had gotten nothing from his so-called caretakers would be an understatement. There was a small, neat pile of blankets in one corner of the room functioning as a bed. In another, the bare minimum of clothing a person could have, also neatly folded and stacked. Then there was a neatly stacked pile of books in the middle of the room. Three books were lying open as if someone was reading them, along with a few notebooks scribbled with notes. It was obvious the boy was studying the books. The Hokage walked over and picked one book up. The title was 'Chakra affinity and applications'. Reading the titles of the rest of the books, the Hokage realised a lot of them were on the use and manipulation of chakra. "You like this subject?" Naruto nodded, looking a bit worried, afraid he might have done something wrong by taking the books that would change the Hokage's mind about taking him away from here. "Are you able to use any of this?" Naruto have a small nod and took a step back as he looked at his feet, pulling his hands to his chest. He was sure he would get scolded. After all, he stole the books and probably learned something he shouldn't have.

The Hokage stood up. Naruto closed his eyes and took a step back expecting a slap or a kick. "Well then, my boy." The Hokage started in a hearty tone, making Naruto open his eyes and look up at the old man. "How would you like to become a shinobi?" Naruto look changed from fearful and insecure to surprise, his big blue eyes opening wide, before his face broke into a smile and he nodded fiercely.

"Good! We will need to figure out how to train you for the next 6 years. After that, you can join the academy to become a genin and be sorted into a team. But for tonight, you will stay in my home." The Hokage said as he picked up Naruto's clothing and books. Naruto gave a great smile and nodded again. After arriving at the Hokage's home, they spent a few hours talking and writing to each other, so the Hokage could get a clearer picture on the boy's situation.

The next morning, the Hokage brought Naruto with him to the office. He hadn't known what else to do with Naruto, now that he had taken charge of him. He hadn't thought everything through enough, he knew, but leaving the boy at the orphanage was not an option. So for most of the morning Naruto had sat silently next to him on the floor, reading through the books he had found in the bookcase that was in the office. After the third meeting with an ANBU squad, the Hokage noticed that none of them commented on Naruto's presence in such important and classified meetings. Now that he thought about it, he only saw the boy, he hadn't heard him, nor was Naruto giving away his presence in any other way. Heck, he hadn't even noticed Naruto had gotten up to take books from the bookcase until the boy had tugged his sleeve to point at something in the book with a questioning look. The Hokage had happily explained about the basics of fuinjustu, the art of seals. Though Naruto had looked confused first, he'd seem to soak up the information given easily and quickly caught onto it.

The next meeting he had planned would be with the persons the Hokage wanted as sensei's for Naruto. He decided to confirm his suspicion about the boy being undetactabe if he chose to be with them. "Naruto, the next people to come into the office will be your sensei's. I would like to surprise them. Could you keep yourself hidden untill I say that you can show yourself?" Naruto looked up from his books and nodded.

There was a soft knock on the door. "Come in." At the Hokage's words three people walked in. In walked Inuzuka Hana, Hatake Kakashi and Mitarashi Anko. "Good, I'm glad you've all made it on time." The Hokage started with a pointed look at Kakashi. "I've got an important question for you. After you all answer, I'll have an ongoing mission of six years for you." The three in front of the Hokage looked at each other before the Hokage asked. "Who can you detect in this office? Give it your best try."

The three looked at each other again. Anko was the first to move, summoning a few snakes that slithered around the office. Kakashi used his Sharingan and Hana sniffed the air.

"I see us four and four ANBU hidden." Kakashi said. "I would say the same." Hana confirmed. "Yeah, that sounds about right. But, why are there books on the ground next to you, Hokage-sama?" Anko asked. It seemed it out place for the Hokage to have the books next to him on the floor while the rest was neatly taken care of.

"Hmm, interesting, very interesting indeed." The Hokage muzed. "I would like you three to take take custody of a child and make him your student. You will be going on regular missions in the meantime, but in your downtime I would like you to the care of Naruto-kun here. Come, show yourself, Naruto-kun." The boy looked at the Hokage nervously, before moving around the desk slowly. All three of them looked surprised at the fact they have missed the boy's presence. Especially Anko. If the snakes had seen the books next to the Hokage how could they have missed this boy? It's not like he had a inconspicuous appearance, with the blond hair, blue eyes and mismatched multicoloured outfit that did not seem to suit him. Still clinging to the side of the desk, Naruto's eyes shot up to their faces as he gave a small wave, before looking back down and seeming to want to disappear into the desk by leaning into it heavily, a hand pulled up to his chest in a fist, the other hand resting against the desk side.

"This here, is Uzumaki Naruto-kun. Yesterday I discovered that the orphanage he was residing in did not take care of him as they should have. He has been pretty much ignored, which is part of the reason, I'm guessing, why he doesn't speak. However, he has taught himself to read and write and has studied books on chakra use and control. As you have noticed, the boy can also hide himself completely, should he so wish. This is why I would want him to train as a shinobi under you three."

The three were quiet for a couple of seconds before Anko squeeled. "So that means... I get a little brother!" She dived at Naruto, making Naruto throw his hands up around his head defensively as he cowered backwards a bit. Anko scooped him up in her arms and hugged him as she walked back to the other two. Naruto, having realised she means no harm, was hiding his face on her shoulder as he kept still as much as possible, still very wary of the strangers.

The women started fawning over the boy immediately, calling him cute, wanting to go shopping for him, already discussing a schedule for his training. Kakashi stood next to them, amused by the idea he would take care of the boy.

The Hokage had given the group residence near the ANBU training ground. In the first months, they focused mainly on making communicating easier. Having Naruto write down everything anytime he wanted to convey a message was not very efficient. They learned ANBU sign language and after that started to train Naruto in the ways of the shinobi. Their usual training grounds were the ANBU training grounds, which got most ANBU involved with him as well. On some occasions, if the Hokage deemed it safe enough, they would take him with them on missions. Rarely was the boy left alone in the village. The times that he was left, he would stay at the ANBU training facility, entertaining the residents of it with games of hide and seek. Needless to say, Naruto was yet to be found by anyone.

After six years of being raised by his sensei's and in between the ANBU, Naruto had picked up a lot of knowledge. He had become quite free around his sensei's and some of the ANBU, but with too many strangers around, the boy often reverted back to the shy kid they had met in the Hokage's office. The three had decided that they will keep their makeshift family together, despite their mission being over.

Today was to be Naruto's first day of school. The Hokage will be bringing him to school, since normal school term started a month ago. Also, Naruto, at the age of 10, would be a good 2 years younger than his classmates. This wasn't uncommon, but the Hokage wanted to personally make sure the boy was met with good favour in his class.

"Now, Naruto my boy, let's introduce you to the class. Iruke-kun should have told the class about your arrival by now." The Hokage said to the small blond boy with big blue eyes. Looking down at the boy, the Hokage couldn't imagine the child already being 10 years old. Naruto was small for his age, his blond hair was waist length, put up in a bun with two senbons sticking in it to keep it together. From the bun a tail of hair hung down. He was wearing a silvery mesh shirt with a white long sleeve shirt over it. The long sleeve shirt had a deep v-neck to his belly button and a hoodie. The deep v-neck showed the mesh shirt and the well-defined muscles underneath it. The sleeves of the long sleeve shirt were widening from the elbows down. The material was silky and flowing. Underneath he had light gray pants of the same silky material, with several seemingly loose ribbons hanging down. Black sandals completed the look. He had no visible weapons on him, save the senbons in his hair.

When Naruto moved, his clothes moved elegantly with him. Even when he stood still indoors, his clothing seemed to move like he was standing in a very light breeze, although he could will it to be still. Right now, probably due to nerves about meeting a class room of new people, nothing around Naruto moved and if the Hokage wasn't looking straight at him, he wouldn't even have known the boy was there. The Hokage knocked on the classroom door and opened it. He walked in with Naruto hiding slighty behind him.

"Good day, Iruke-kun, I'm here with the new student."

"Ah, yes, Naruto-kun, right? Class, your attention please! Naruto-kun, can you please introduce yourself." The class stared at the boy as he shyly shuffled in front of the Hokage. He gave a small wave and a bow. "This is Uzumaki Naruto. Due to circumstances he does not talk, but he is very smart. I'm sure you'll all get along." The Hokage said with a smile. Naruto looked around the class as the Hokage finished talking Naruto's eyes fell on a brown haired student. Naruto sucked in a audible breath, making the Hokage jump slightly. The only time you would hear any kind of sound from the boy was when something was wrong. "What's wrong, Naruto?" Naruto turned to the Hokage and started in quick hand signs that the Hokage seemed to follow effortlessly. "Oh, well, I'm sure that that will be fine, Naruto." The Hokage responded.

Naruto glanced back at the student, before looking at the Hokage again. "I'll be going now, good luck, you all!" The Hokage waived and started to walk out of the room. Naruto grabbed the Hokage's sleeve, making the Hokage turn his attention to him again. Again Naruto made some quick hand signs. The Hokage sighed. "We've been over this, Naruto my boy, yes, you have to attend." After that, the Hokage walked out of the classroom. Naruto stared after him, seemingly a bit lost at what to do next.

Iruke cleared his throat. "Why don't you take a seat next to Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun? Sasuke-kun, please raise your hand. There will be time during recess to get to know your classmates." Naruto nodded at Iruke and in 2 light, silent jumps, Naruto was at the back of the class. With a third, Naruto lightly landed cross-legged in the seat next to the black haired student that had raised his hand. Naruto smiles at the boy next to him as Iruke started the class.

**Author's Note:**

> Schedule: will start after 'Naruto, a Shattered Mind' is finished.
> 
> In which Naruto:  
> -never learns how to speak  
> -is placed with capable guardians at age 4  
> -grows up happily  
> -is a lot more intuned with using wind chakra
> 
> A better summary will follow when I start working on this. Right now, I just want some feedback about the viability for the story.


End file.
